#is to become fluent in the language

[bookwyrm-art-stuff]

Me, looking at a foreign language:

Me: I cannot read those words. That is very cool.

[hahahafangirl]

the failure of language

so im getting around to write some suonirei fanfic and, inevitably, got to Backstory Speculations activities. and now i begin to think about suo (windbreaker in general) and the failure of language -- when people, regardless of how much they try or how eloquent they find themselves to be, will find points where they are unable to give words to what they are feelings or explain some difficult emotions or circumstances to themselves or another person.

think, sakura going "how am i supposed to treat you now?" after hearing out umemiya's childhood story-- what is he supposed to say? to act in general? language, spoken or behavioral, failed him. umemiya redirected sakura to language: he did not expect sakura to treat him any differently. come back to the language you understand, he says. and now we complicated "language" to means "a vehicle of interactions and expression", which is functionally what language is.

well i did say that this arise from thinking about suo, most notably, thinking about how windbreaker expresses speechlessness and stillness very frequently from suo's silence. think the focus on suo's eyes at any moment where language are yet adequate to say what is happening: suo and nirei's response to sakura's solitary during sickness; suo's anger (in KEEL and shishitoren) occurring wordlessly; and, most recently (which sorta sparked this line of thought), this page

note the wordlessness. a lot of time, wbk starts out the responses to these sincere and vulnerable moments with this wordlessness, where characters ponder and reflect on the statement, often evoking their own memories and experiences, thus empathizing with the vulnerability in question. it is a reflective and thoughtful way to begin the process of empathy in silence. it feels ritualistic, even, like meditation, to begin connecting with other by a silence that could be taken to be a single-minded, pure focus -- on what is being put on the stage to ponder. maybe this is not quite a failure of language, depending on how we see it, but rather, a moment outside of language priming for its arrival. it is not time for language to enter the scene yet.

but then language always come, sooner or later. as awkwardly or curtly or roughly, sakura and nirei speak sincere words that come from the bottom of their heart. language -- thus connection and empathy -- then propel the conversation. suo, notably (at least without me combing through the manga again) often does not enter this realm of language the way sakura and nirei do it. when he empathize sakura's feelings when he was sick, suo did it where sakura cannot hear. the only(?) time he responded genuinely (please bring up examples or counterexamples if you have it on hand) was when nirei was feelings insecure about his inability to fight and ask suo for help. but even then, the response of "your self-esteem is all over the place" is not quite the personal, genuine approach sakura or nirei has. its quite measured and reflective -- responding to nirei's statements rather than clearly interjecting something to the conversation. many of suo's vulnerabilities are deflected by falsehoods (harmless jokes, not malicious lies), distractions, etc, etc. language seemingly continues to fail him, or he continues to evade it.

i am in a habit of not stating my Backstory Speculations, because a lot of times i want to stick closer to the texts. whatever Speculations i have will most likely manifest as fanfiction (oh boy is that an ambitious media to do this in). but anyway, from popular hc of suo being potentially a "traitor" or somehow entangled in a major and antagonistic organization, his failure to relate this to his friends and thus him hiding his past can be taken as another failure of language. perhaps languages continuously fail him in his childhood-- hence it has yet to learn how to succeed.

p/s: i should also say that im enjoying using different concepts and ideas to speculate/think about and analyze the text (wbk) in a different way. this is basically what comparative literature and literary criticism is, i think (lol). sometimes i feel like this is just me dressing up good ole literary theme in a fancier language, but whatever works works lol. hopefully as i continue to think of the "inability to express your true emotions" and "inability to be vulnerable" more specifically (or broadly) as a failure of language, more interesting insights will come up. its less about what the texts is literally and consciously say, and more about how we can think about the text using -- and extract from the text via -- various frameworks.

yep, this is probably gonna be a more complete essay at some point. i even pulled out the usual rccl register for this!

[fromtheseventhhell]

The Starklings trying to keep up with Arya after she returns to Westeros fluent in multiple languages

[melikes-reads]

To German speakers

Serious question: how do you think, before you talk?

I've been watching German tv series and reading German fics, so my reading and listening comprehension is improving.

But.

German syntax is puzzling. Extremely so.

I know the grammar rules, I do! But my mind automatically goes subject + verb + object + conjunction + subject + verb + object when I want to speak.

When I write, I have time to reflect about the correct order of each word (and pieces of a word!), but trying to speak and remember where every part of the speech goes, and the right declensions… Impossible.

So, any advice?

[silenceofthewave]

( just found out that rid2015 confirmed cybertronian sign language (NOT!!! CHIROLINGUISTICS!!!) and yeah. im gonna take that and run with it. )

[starbuck]

realizing that i’m a smart and capable person who can do anything i put my mind to has been very healing for me, but it’s also a bit chaotic because i now realize how many specialized skills i find interesting and would probably be very good at if i dedicated enough time to it… what if i committed myself to recreationally studying the law… and bird genetics…

[lurafita]

Kinda angst but not too much angst headcanon for Magnus because yes

I think that when stressed, Magnus mutters in indonesian because its just comes natural to him even if he doesn't like speaking his native language, but Alec uses it to understand if something isn't totally ok. Plus points if when too much stressed, disfocused or tired Magnus replies in another language and Alec just looks at him confused. Also extra points if Magnus says something in another language because he doesn't want people to understand what he is saying so Alec starts using a magical or not translator and Magnus says the most jaw breaking things ever because he just likes talking to himsrlf about everything that is on his mind

I just wanted to share this with you because I really like making new headcanons :)

- the fanfiction person

Mulitlingual Magnus is my babe! :-)

I think he learned a lot of different languages over the years. He traveled a lot, and he is a smart cookie, and he likes to learn and socialize.

Maybe different languages are for different emotions?

He falls back to indonesian when stressed, the demonic language when scared, afrikaans when he feels overwhelmed. and more.

Alec may not completely understand the languages, but he learns to distinguish the differences in emotion when Magnus suddenly speaks in tongues. And does his best to get his love to calm down again.

[emperor-forneus]

cramming for exams like a mf..... i'll get to the requests as soon as im finished with surviving this week 🥹

the only thing that keeps me locked in FLKFSLK 💪

[nereb-and-dungalef]

I keep drinking coffee thinking it's gonna make me Productive and then instead of doing the work I actually have to do I just compulsively make spreadsheets :(

[vocalux]

i think its really cool to create new random languages / abcs etc

anyone else or just me ? frri

[mwagneto]

like my spanish knowledge or lack thereof is rly funny coz i never learned it formally i just picked it up from a tv show i binged but my brain sectioned off a whole new corner just for spanish so i CAN switch to spanish like i would for other languages (in fact after the whole tv show debacle i spent days not being able to switch away from spanish mode and thus not understanding what ppl were saying coz my brain kept interpreting both english and hungarian as spanish and refused to process it any other way) but my vocab is like nonexistent so the grammar and the will is there but the knowledge is not. EXCEPT that the show was la casa de papel aka a show about bank robberies so most of the vocab i do know is related to that. so like i can say robber or hostage or gold or kill her or shut the fuck up but until i got here i didnt know how to like, say good evening

[handweavers]

i have this issue where i understand languages a lot easier than i can speak them/make my own sentences in them and i'd say it's the biggest issue for me with french and malay specifically because if people are conversing in either language i almost completely understand what they're saying but i can't explain how or why and it's largely due to a lack of grammar knowledge, i have the vocab but no idea how to string the words together on my own outside of small phrases and learned sentences. also my french pronunciation sucks my mouth just doesn't work like that, but i've been told by language teachers that my malay pronunciation is like a native speaker (which makes sense because i've been hearing and speaking it my entire life lol) and i just need practice which is affirming and reassuring.

[dandelionsandplatypuses]

My toxic trait is I join online language learning communities and just dump a bunch of research-supported information on them that corrects their YouTube polyglot influencer-provided misinformation and misunderstandings of real research and then I vanish again

[tellonetellall]

When I finally get myself to be fluent in Korean it’s over for everyone!

[crazy-fangirl2524]

The reason why English feels so distant and people find it easier to express their feelings and emotions in English is because English has become so common that it loses its meaning. The English language itself has evolved into just a means of translation.

[possibly-a-table-or-just-gay]

Irish language rant time feel free to ignore

THE TRANSLATION OF MODERN ENGLISH WORDS INTO IRISH PISSES ME OFF.

I do Home Economics in school (or Eacnamaíocht Baile as I go to an Irish speaking school) and I'm studying nutrition and diets rn and I'm realising how little thought was given to translating the language from English to irish.

For example, the word for Vegetarian? Veigeatóir. Does it look kinda wrong? Well if you speak Irish than it fucking should. THERE IS NO FUCKING "V" IN IRISH. "Bh" in a word makes a "V" sound (eg in "Bhí" (which means "it was") is pronounced "vee") . Whats after happening here is someone has made an irish-flavoured English word.

WHATS EVEN MORE STUPID IS THERE IS A PERFECTLY GOOD WORD FOR VEGETARIAN ALREADY. Feoilséantóir. Which translates, in traditional Gaelige fashion, to "meat denier" (and vegan translates to fíor-feoilséantóir, meaning "true meat denier") .

Literally translated, "veigeatóir" means JACK SHIT. A lot of nouns in irish have really cool literal translations that make so much sense, eg. Sciathán Leathair (bat, or "leather wings") Uisce Beatha (whiskey, or "water of life") and Smugairle Róin (jellyfish, or "seal mucus") and this way of irish-ing English words completely ignores this quirk of the language.

Other examples of this shitty translations that I can think of off the top of my head:

Veigeán (vegan) (see reason above)

Calcaim (calcium) ("C" cannot make an "S" sound in irish)

Anyway. Rant over. Had to say it before I exploded.